New pup question.

[fishing4fun]

I recently got a new black female lab puppy, Koda is her name. And I've been putting her in a pet porter at night. I get up 3 times a night to let her out. She always takes a leak, but every morning there is a pile or 2 in her porter. I've tried staying out with her as long as I can. She ever gets bored and wants to go back in. Are there any good ideas to stop her from [PoorWordUsage]ing in her porter.

She doesn't whine any more, so I can't listen for that to take her out. It's getting old cleaning her blanket all the time and it really is nasty some mornings.

[leechlake]

sounds like you're doing things right regarding taking her out. I would suggest putting papers in the front of the kennel and a towel in the back, she should [PoorWordUsage] on the newspapers so she doesn't soil her bed and then you don't have to clean the towel or blanket every morning, just throw out and replace the papers. How old is she?

[fishing4fun]

She'll be is 8.5 weeks old. She is incredibly smart though. I put papers in it last night. She did go on the papers, but then she walked through it and that made a mess everywhere else. I'll keep at it. It's wierd she doesn't pee in there.

She already no what the work NO means as for jumping on my leg or when she trys getting in the house. But she doesn't get it when I say it about the dump!! When should I start rubbing her nose in it? Or shouldn't I?

Thanks

[LABS4ME]

It generally takes a puppy to reach 12-16 weeks old to have "full" control of their bladders and bowels. You will begin to see marked improvement at 9-10 weeks and a progression towards fully "house broke" from there. If you are using a full size kennel that is probably going to be 50% of your problems. Buy a puppy crate and move them up from there. I use 3 sizes of crates to train them before they reach an adult sized crate. The more room to get up and move around, the more messes you'll have. I keep them in a crate just big enough for them to lay comfortably stretched out. Once they know longer are confortable, I move them up a size. Puppy crates are cheap and store fairly easily broken down. If you don't plan on using them again for 10 years, sell them. For the minimal use they'll have you'll probably get 2/3rds the cost back.

Good Luck!

Ken

[gspman]

When are you feeding her? If you put the dish down and leave it there she may be eating some right before bed. Put the dish down at 6:00 pm and pick it up at 6:15. That may help minimize the number of dog logs in the crate.

[marine_man]

I think labs4me is right on about having too much space.. it seems like when that happens they [PoorWordUsage] in one corner and sleep in the other... what I've done instead of buying multiple crates it to build a partition out of a piece of pegboard and a couple pieces of wood to limit the amount of space the pup can be in... as the pups get older cut the piece / pieces of wood shorter and shorter until you can take it out...

marine_man

[fishing4fun]

Thanks,

I'll put a piece of plywood in there and make her space smaller. I'm sure this is going to help alot. Because it's always in the same spot, right in front of the door. What do you guys reccomend for food. I've been feeding her Science Diet puppy, her [PoorWordUsage] has been very runny. That doesn't make it to fun to clean. She's been on it now for a week. That should be long enough for her to get over the change.

[setterguy]

I've had good luck putting a small cooler or something similiar in the kennel to downsize the space. Also what GSPman said about feeding times is crucial. With my last pup I fed her at 7 then she went out at 9:30, slept in the kennel and never had a problem at night.

[fishing4fun]

Thanks for all the advice, she didn't dump last night. I made her sleeping area 1/2 the size. It worked great last night, hopefully it works from now on.

Thanks

Again

[Rost]

Hey f4f-

Hey, where did you buy your pup at?

[Hossienda]

I have to second what Labs said. Last year my new pup had a problem with going in the pet porter and I decided to change to a smaller size. Once I did that, everything was just fine. As she grew, I increased the size of the crate.

-Hossienda

[MIKE IN lINO III]

I heard if you rub your dogs nose in its mess you will only teach them to eat it. I don't know if it is true but I wouldn't risk it.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

You may want to experiment with food. If the stools stay runny try something else. Our pup was under weight so the vet recommended Eukenuba because it is very rich. We used that for the rest of puppy hood until her wieght was up. We used adult formula for a while. Bad gas though. Eventually we gravitated back to good old purina dog chow. I had used all the spendy brands for years on last dog and this one but honestly she took to it right away. Healthy and regular. The best part is it's cheap too.

[Swamp Scooter]

If you are concerned about the runny issue think of it this way. She has to go and go bad. She has been holding it for a while and if you were in her situation it would probably be the same consistancy!!

Most of the Science Diet stuff has a lot of corn in it. Might try another type with more of a chicken base as the first few ingredients. If you see ground yellow corn right at the top it will not be as healthy for her as the meat based stuff.

The smaller kennel will help immediately and also time the feedings to get what goes in coming out when you are able to attend to her needs. If you are giving her free choice food - unlimited access to a full bowl that will be something you will want to change right now.

[fishing4fun]

Rost,

I got her from a guy in Hayti SD. My pups mother came from Steve Gilbertson. So our dogs might be relates!!!